Fall is here!

I love fall. I love pumpkin flavored stuff, layering and the smell of firewood burning. I love school supplies (even though that has mostly moved to August), I love fall vegetables, soup and no longer being lazy for staying inside curled up with a book and some coffee.

But my most favorite-ist part of fall is those wet windy days when you feel like going outside is a battle. Not the downpour of rain days, but the misty, windy, blowing leaves days where the air is crisp and being outside makes you feel happy and confident and alive. Your hair gets all messy and it's hard to walk against the wind and it is glorious.

We had one of those today.

Apocalypse

Lately it is seeming like 2012 could be a reality in Washington DC.

Around two weeks ago we experienced a fairly strong earthquake and only 4 days later a torrential downpour hit DC in the form of a hurricane. On top of all of that our politicians are acting even more like small children than normal. Might not be apocalyptic but I am feeling low on confidence for our current situation.

We made it through the hurricane just fine although Ryan was pretty bored. Netflix can only entertain for so long. The earthquake was another matter. My poor little Dorgan face (or actually ear) planted into our hardwood floors and took off his ear and his head! Ryan has repaired him somewhat but the scars will always be with him.

Pictures below.

Mike & Emily's Wedding

We just realized we never posted anything about Mike & Em's wedding. Suffice to say it was beautiful and we had a great time. It was also very nice to see all of our friends from Texas and New York. Ya'll should come down to DC more often!

Clowns to the left of me...

Jokers to the right...

and Ryan walking Grandma Dar down the aisle.

The group before the wedding

and the ladies afterwards!

Yea! People who love each other!

NoVa: Part 2

On Sunday we went to the Shenandoah River Valley Museum which is a fancy museum building, a historical home and beautiful gardens.

Then we traveled out to 3 Foxes Vinyard and after a quick tour and a tasting spent some time on the top of this hill...

Wandering through the vinyard itself...

and ended up in a hammock by the little creek. We did also purchase a few bottles to take home and enjoy.

All in all a great birthday trip. THANK YOU husband!

Northern Virginia Trip

For my birthday we decided to go to Northern Virginia on a little history and winery trip. We decided on the city of Winchester and booked a hotel and a car. Once we got out there we spent Saturday wandering the city, the old town and a local cemetery with graves dating back to the Revolutionary War. We saw quite a few greyish red foxes and all in all had a great weekend.

Outside the city library in Winchester

The local cemetery

The back of an abandoned theatre they are turning into condos.

The lobby of the abanadoned theatre.

More to come in the next post!

Camping in WV

We went to West Viriginia to go camping/white water rafting for Ryan's big birthday. I wasn't able to take any pictures of us white water rafting, which I rocked at by the way. Who knew my 2nd super power is the funyak?

Below are a few pictures of our funny little tent and campground. We also ate dinner at this awesome Mexican restaurant in town.

Birthday Boy

Our funny little tent. Mike had never been camping before so this is our baby steps tent.

HUGE moth.

Smores!

Fire! Ryan taught Mike and Em how to make some Boy Scout fires.

New York Trip

At the end of May, Ryan and I went to NYC for the weekend. We stayed with my good friend Katie and her beagle puppy BB. While we were there we wandered the city, ate lots of great food, went shopping and caught up with a few friends. Pictures below.

New York City!!

Drinks with Katie and Kelly at Blockheads

I'm drinking coffee ON THE SUBWAY. Take that DC.

Yes. This is NYC (Actually Brooklyn)

Finished our trip off with a visit to Aaron and Lori Prado.

Apartment Pictures

So Ryan and I moved into our apartment about a month ago and it is almost complete. We still need nightstands and a few more pictures to be hung.

Here are some photos.

Lucky Number 13!

Living Room and Dining Room

AV Equipment- Gotta love those Expedits from IKEA!

Bedroom with HUGE window. What you can't see are two (TWO!) big closets on the other wall.

Cute bathroom. A little low on storage but there is another window in

the shower.

Overall we like it. Let us know if you are ever in the area to stop on by!

Updates- The Move

So it has been a long time since I updated this monster. We have had a busy few months being "grown-ups." (that's my code for both having full time salaried jobs.)

For the month of May we paid double rent. We had starting looking for a new place, above ground with windows and one Saturday we walked over to check out an apartment right on the corner of 16th and Irving. The minute we walked in I wanted to fill out the paperwork. The apartment is big, and old(built in 1906), and had AC and wooden floors and super high ceilings and we can see the cathedral from our bedroom window. It is just beautiful.

After rushing home, filling out paperwork, waiting, waiting, jumping through some hoops and having to make a 2-year agreement we finally met the agent at our local bar and were given keys to our new apartment. But we didn't move in right away. I was still really new at my job and we had a bunch of other stuff going on and we ended up scheduling our move for the next to last weekend in May.

We hired movers who had really great reviews online. The Saturday they were supposed to move us they didn't show up. We called and kept getting pushed off and finally we just rescheduled them for later in the week and decided we would both work from home on Wednesday to babysit the movers. We took our bed and essentials shoved them in a friend's car and slept in the living room on the floor for a few days.

Wednesday morning the movers did show, and they did move us. It took a longer time than we were expecting and honestly they were slightly frustrating. We were told that everything would be calculated to the minute and they ended up charging us 15 extra minutes saying they had to run it up to the next hour. Then they asked for a tip.

(I would mention the name of the company on this blog but after watching my friend go through some blog-related slander lawsuit you can just email me and I will tell you privately. )

A few days after moving in we started to get fraudulent charges on the credit card we used to pay for the move. Whomever stole our number, I'm not saying it was the movers but they did use one of those old carbon copy cc sliders instead of an electronic machine, racked up several hundred dollars at Fandango, a few hundred purchasing tickets to Six Flags in MD and paid off a Washington DC library fine. Luckily we are with USAA and they are wonderful and amazing. I also called the moving company and complained.

ANYWAY. Here is a picture of our apartment. More to come, before August. I promise.

The Kitchen

The Living Room from the Front Door

The 5 Week Mark

I've been at Woolly Mammoth for 5 weeks now.

I've executed a 330 person benefit event, a 30 person cast dinner, a first read and have created and sent invites and pre-planning for a 30 person offsite BBQ and a full house opening night of the next performance. I've also started time-lining next season and planning our major fall event.

I now know how the postal mail works, how to check my email from home, where most of my files are and the basic rhythms of the place. Many things still remain a mystery. For example I'm not always sure what people's names are and last names are still leaving me clueless. I don't know what perks people get for being on the board or major sponsors or even minor sponsors. I often forget my keys and have to take the elevator. I locked myself out of the patio and had to phone a friend to get back in and I have no idea who most of the board members are or what they look like. As my job is in development, that can be an issue especially since I am getting to the point where everyone thinks I should know.

Do I love it? Not quite. I'm still so overwhelmed with planning and budgets and work that I can't quite love it. I like it okay. I don't hate going to work, in fact I usually quite like it. The people are nice or at least very competent and I can respect that. We are located in Penn Quarter and watching all of the people go by and having all of the good food nearby is quite a change from my prior employment.

I wonder what I will think about the job in 5 more weeks.

Woolly Mammoth

I start my new job as Development Manager, Special Events at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company today.

Weirdness so far-

1. They spell theatre with an RE. Arena spells it with a ER. Magik also spells it with an RE. So after months of training myself to spell it with an ER, I now have to train myself back.

2. We don't start work until 10. I get up at 7 (well 7-ish, Ryan don't you laugh) I used to leave the house at 8:45 and now I don't have to leave until 9:40. I already had a lazy morning but with an extra hour I am clueless as to what to do. So far, I have had another cup of coffee and vacuumed. I guess I am going to have to start working out or something.

3. Woolly is slightly less formal that Arena. I mean in general less formal but I am honestly most focused on the dress code. While I used to worry I wasn't looking "nice" enough for work, I am currently concerned about the opposite. I don't want to alienate potential new friend/workmates by dressing too well. I'm going for black pants and a grey shirt today. Can't really get too formal when you dress like stage crew.

OK- well that killed 15 minutes. Only 20 more to go before I leave for work.

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Home Internet

After several months without home internet our landlord FINALLY turned it back on.

YEAH!

13-monthiversary

13 months ago Ryan and I got married. I asked my good friend David Morgan to speak about marriage. On this, our 13-monthiversary I wanted to remember the importance of his words. They are listed below for your information and amusement.

David Morgan 1-9-10

"Wow this is great. I love a wedding. Mom gets to cry. Dad gets to cry. I’ll probably cry. Shelley and Ryan asked me to say something about marriage. My script says, “Dave says something about marriage here.” That was very brave- so here we go.

There is always a lot of pretty and flowery language at weddings. Thees and Thous flow like wine at the reception. I promise none of that here. I’m going to get to the nitty gritty of marriage. That’s what a marriage is- nitty gritty, down and dirty. It never ends day in and day out. And when the wedding is over and the clothes are packed away, what’s left?

Mortgage, bills, job, family, where to live, where to work, when do the kids come and the big question, should we get a dog. These questions used to be answered alone. You didn’t need anyone’s help or permission. You didn’t have to worry what someone else wanted or even if they didn’t like dogs. But now… now.. your married. The old ball and chain, game over. Now you are married and it all changes.

I becomes we.

I would love to get a drink becomes, Let’s get together sometime.

I want a sports car becomes, Should we get a station wagon?

I want an orange cake becomes, Can we have an orange cake?

It’s all different now, but the secret is- its great, awesome, doesn’t get any better.

We is so much better than I. Now you get to say; we are in love. Now you get to say; let’s travel the world.

Now we get to say;

They are so good together.

They look amazing.

They will be so happy.

They should get a dog.

Now I try not to cry.

We love that you are becoming a we. And now the questions of what happens next seem so easy to answer. They don’t even matter. All that matters is the we. We have each other, a lifetime together. We will wake up everyday next to our best friends, partner in crime, our love. And I can’t think of anything cooler than that."

Neither can I Dave, neither can I.